Blessed is the Man forms the third movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 (also known as the “Vespers”).
Scored for a cappella chorus, the All-Night Vigil was composed over the course of two weeks in January and February of 1915. It has been called “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” The monumental liturgical work, completed during the First World War, represents the culmination of a sacred musical tradition which included music of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, and which came to an abrupt end with the Communist revolution of 1917. Banished by the Soviets, Russian Orthodox religion has enjoyed a spectacular resurgence since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
In 1939, years after emigrating to the United States as a result of political turmoil in his native land, Rachmaninov said,
Having left Russia, I lost my desire to compose. Having been left without a homeland, I lost myself. To the exiled one who has lost his musical roots, traditions, and home soil, there are no comforts other than the indestructible silence of undisturbed remembrances.
The text, beginning with the line “Blessed is the man who walks not in the path of the wicked,” and alternating with “Alleluia,” comes from Psalm 1. The simple, meditative melody is based on Eastern Orthodox chant.
Recordings
- Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil, Op. 37, Gloriæ Dei Cantores, The St. Romanos Cappella, Patriarch Tikhon Choir, Washington Master Chorale, Peter Jermihov, Richard K. Pugsley gdcrecordings.com
Featured Image: candles in an Orthodox Church, photograph by Ivan Murauyou